23 July 2018

Huge numbers of young people registering to vote

The study evaluated
all new voter registrations in the 39 states with available data since
February 14, 2018—the day of the Parkland shooting—and calculated the
change in the share of new registrants who are 18 to 29 years old.
Across the country, the share of youth registrants increased by a modest
2.16 percentage points. But in Indiana, Virginia, and New York—home to
some of this year’s marquee House and Senate contests—the share of youth
registrants increased by 9.87, 10.49, and 10.7 percentage points,
respectively. In Pennsylvania—where voters will decide as many as nine
competitive congressional races—the share of new registrants who are
younger than 30 jumped by a whopping 16.14 percentage points.

caveat:

... though there’s no guarantee that many of the new registrants will actually vote. Just under half of all 18-to-29-year-olds were registered to vote in 2014, but less than 20 percent of that population group ended up casting ballots that year.

1 comment:

How much of this youth registration can be attributes to the ease with which people can register today? In most states you can register when getting a drivers license (or a renewal). Where I live, you are asked if you want to register to vote when you get a library card, buy a hunting or fishing license, get license plates, buy an EZ Pass, or most any timer you interact with a government agency.

I would posit that many people simply register because it is convenient, and likely never think about it again.

Just to clarify, the last paragraph states that just under 50% of 18-29 year-olds were registered in 2014, but less than 20 percent of that population group voted. Does "that population group" refer to registered voters or to the general population?

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